Fence laws in West Virginia
What West Virginia statutes and statewide codes say about fences, one topic at a time, with the section number and a link to the document behind every line.
Fence laws in West Virginia, question by question
The short version
- Who pays on the line
- In West Virginia every fence on a property line is a lawful fence unless the two owners agree on something else.
- How tall
- West Virginia sets no maximum fence height. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Permits
- West Virginia has a State Building Code, written by the State Fire Commission, and it does not switch itself on.
- Pool barriers
- West Virginia leaves pool barriers to the 2018 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code.
- Spite fences
- West Virginia has no spite fence statute. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide this one.
- Measured from what
- West Virginia says where to measure from when a fence sits on something raised. The figure is 4 feet, for hedge fence, with any mound counted from the bottom of the ditch. It reaches a lawful fence for holding horses, cattle, sheep, pigs and goats only.
- Corner lots
- West Virginia leaves corner clearance to governing bodies adopting a zoning ordinance under Chapter 8A of the West Virginia Code.
- Retaining walls
- West Virginia leaves retaining walls to the 2018 International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, and to each county or city that chooses to adopt the State Building Code. It reaches one and two family homes in counties and cities that adopted the State Building Code only.
- Materials
- West Virginia lists seven builds that count as a lawful fence, running from a rail worm fence through stone, hedge, posts and wire, and high tensile wire.
- Livestock
- West Virginia spells out what counts as a lawful fence for holding horses, mules, cattle, sheep, pigs and goats. The figure is 6 strands, for least number of wires in a lawful post and wire farm fence.
Who owns the fence between two properties in West Virginia?
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West Virginia answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
In West Virginia every fence on a property line is a lawful fence unless the two owners agree on something else. That deal has to be in writing, made in two copies, and signed in front of a notary. When a fence set by that kind of written deal is kept in good repair, an animal that crosses it is handled the same way as one that crosses a lawful fence.
All partition fences shall be lawful fences, unless otherwise agreed upon by the adjoining owners by a writing executed in duplicate
Also on fences on the property line in West Virginia
- set in state lawWhen two neighboring properties are both used for farming, gardening, grazing or livestock, each side pays a fair share of the fence on the line between them. The share covers building the fence, repairing it and keeping it up. The statute says a just proportion, so it does not fix one split for every case. W. Va. Code 19-17-5West Virginia · Statute
- set in state lawA landowner who plans to build or repair a fence on the line can hand the neighbor a written notice describing the fence or the repair work. The neighbor then has ten days to answer in writing and say what the objection is. A neighbor who never answers and never does the work can be made to pay a fair share of what the fence cost. W. Va. Code 19-17-7West Virginia · Statute
- set in state lawWhen neighbors cannot agree on who pays what for a fence on the line, either one can file a civil case in magistrate or circuit court in the county where the fence sits, and the court sets the fair share. For a post and wire fence built to the state standard, one neighbor cannot be charged more than half the cost. W. Va. Code 19-17-8West Virginia · Statute
How tall can a fence be in West Virginia?
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West Virginia law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
West Virginia sets no limit on how tall a fence at a house can be. The state fence statute gives only smallest heights for farm fences that hold livestock, and no largest height for a yard fence. The city ordinance sets it, along with whatever building code the county or city has adopted.
Documents read before writing that:
- W. Va. Code 19-17-1West Virginia Legislature
- W. Va. Code 15A-11-5West Virginia Legislature
Do I need a permit for a fence in West Virginia?
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West Virginia answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
West Virginia has a State Building Code, written by the State Fire Commission, and it does not switch itself on. A county or city that wants the code has to adopt it and then tell the State Fire Marshal. The code has force only in the counties and cities that do.
each county or municipality intending to adopt the State Building Code shall notify the State Fire Marshal of its adoption
Also on permits in West Virginia
- set in state lawThe state writes the building code and does not enforce it. Permits and inspections are run by the county or the city, so the permit rule for a fence comes from the local office. Two local governments can also agree to share inspection and enforcement staff. W. Va. Code 15A-11-5(d)West Virginia · Statute
- set in state lawBuildings and structures used mainly for farming sit outside the State Building Code and the State Fire Code. That same pass covers any county or city building code or property upkeep code. Section 15A-11-3 says what counts as a farming purpose. W. Va. Code 15A-11-5(a)West Virginia · Statute
Pool fence requirements in West Virginia
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West Virginia does not set this. It leaves it to the 2018 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code.
A pool fence rule does exist in West Virginia, and West Virginia does not write it. The State Building Code, 87 CSR 4, takes up the 2018 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code at subsection 4.1.n, so the height, the gap limits and the gate rules all live in that private code rather than in state law. The code is copyrighted and no state site prints it. The same limit applies as to the rest of the State Building Code: it reaches only the counties and cities that adopted the code and told the State Fire Marshal.
The 2018 edition of the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code.
The code hands this to the 2018 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, which is not published in the code itself.
Spite fence laws in West Virginia
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West Virginia law has no rule about this. The chapters that were read are listed below. Cities and counties decide it instead.
West Virginia has no spite fence law. The fence article runs from 19-17-1 through 19-17-11 and covers lawful fences, rivers used as fences, hedge fences and fences on a property line. Nothing in it limits a fence built to annoy a neighbor, and nothing ties a height to why the fence went up.
Documents read before writing that:
- W. Va. Code 19-17-1 through 19-17-11West Virginia Legislature
- W. Va. Code 19-17-3West Virginia Legislature
How fence height is measured in West Virginia
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West Virginia answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
West Virginia says where to measure from when a fence sits on something raised. Section 19-17-1 lists lawful fences by height, and for a hedge fence built on a mound it says the mound counts toward the height, measured from the bottom of the ditch. That is the same problem a fence on top of a wall creates, settled in a statute written for farm fences. The wire fences in the same section space every strand in inches off the ground, so the ground is the starting point all through the section.
If a hedge fence, four feet high. If any hedge fence be built upon a mound, the same from the bottom of the ditch shall be included in estimating the height of such fence
4 fthedge fence, with any mound counted from the bottom of the ditch
Fence rules for corner lots in West Virginia
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West Virginia does not set this. It leaves it to governing bodies adopting a zoning ordinance under Chapter 8A of the West Virginia Code.
West Virginia does not set a corner triangle. Chapter 8A lists what a zoning ordinance is allowed to contain, and traffic flow and access is on that list, along with screening and the height and bulk of buildings. That is the hook a West Virginia town uses for a corner triangle, and the state gives no measurement. Chapter 17, the roads and highways chapter, protects the view a different way: it makes a junkyard near a state road screen itself from sight.
(10) Preserving green spaces and requiring new green spaces, landscaping, screening and the preservation of adequate natural light; (11) Regulating traffic flow and access, pedestrian flow and access, parking and loading;
The code hands this to governing bodies adopting a zoning ordinance under Chapter 8A of the West Virginia Code, which is not published in the code itself.
Retaining wall rules in West Virginia
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West Virginia does not set this. It leaves it to the 2018 International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, and to each county or city that chooses to adopt the State Building Code.
West Virginia has no rule of its own for a wall that holds back earth. Its State Building Code is a Fire Commission rule that takes up the 2018 International Residential Code for one and two family homes and gives it the same force as if it were typed out in the rule. The rule lists the changes it makes to that code, and those were read end to end: they cover energy use, buried gas pipe, furnaces and a few other items. None of them touches a wall that holds back earth, and the word retaining is nowhere in the rule. The rule also has force only in a county or city that adopted the State Building Code and told the State Fire Marshal, so a place that never adopted it has no state permit rule for such a wall.
The 2018 edition of the International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings, with the following exceptions:
The code hands this to the 2018 International Residential Code, published by the International Code Council, and to each county or city that chooses to adopt the State Building Code, which is not published in the code itself.
Fence materials allowed in West Virginia
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West Virginia answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
West Virginia lists seven builds that count as a lawful fence, running from a rail worm fence through stone, hedge, posts and wire, and high tensile wire. The last one on the list is an electric high tensile fence, thirty eight inches high, of at least five strands held at two hundred pounds of pull, or three strands where only horses, mules, donkeys or cattle are being held in. It is the only build in the section with an equipment rule attached. The fence may be charged only by a high powered low impedance controller that meets international safety standards.
Only high-powered low impedance fence controllers which comply with international safety standards shall be used to electrify fence.
Livestock and boundary fence law in West Virginia
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West Virginia answers this in its own law. The words that do it are quoted below.
West Virginia spells out what counts as a lawful fence for holding horses, mules, cattle, sheep, pigs and goats. A post and wire fence stands four feet high and carries at least six strands, with the bottom strand five inches off the ground and posts no more than sixteen feet apart. Other builds have their own numbers, such as four and a half feet for a rail fence and three and a half feet for a stone fence.
If built with posts and wire, or pickets and wire, four feet high, and shall consist of not less than six strands
6 strandsleast number of wires in a lawful post and wire farm fence
Documents behind this page
10 documents, each read on the date shown. Nothing on this page rests on a summary of one.
- West Virginia LegislatureWest Virginia Code, Section 19-17-4
- West Virginia LegislatureWest Virginia Code, Section 19-17-5
- West Virginia LegislatureWest Virginia Code, Section 19-17-7
- West Virginia LegislatureWest Virginia Code, Section 19-17-8
- West Virginia LegislatureWest Virginia Code, Section 19-17-1
- West Virginia LegislatureWest Virginia Code, Section 15A-11-5
- West Virginia State Fire MarshalWest Virginia Code of State Rules, Title 87 Series 4, State Building Code
- West Virginia LegislatureWest Virginia Code, Chapter 19, Article 17 (Fences)
- West Virginia LegislatureWest Virginia Code, Section 19-17-3
- West Virginia LegislatureWest Virginia Code, Chapter 8A, Land Use Planning, Article 7, Zoning Ordinance
What this page does not cover
Everything above is state law. Fence height, setback, corner visibility and materials are set by city and county ordinance in almost every state, and a local rule can be far stricter than the statewide default. A parcel can also carry an easement, an overlay district, a fire hazard zone or a recorded HOA restriction, none of which appear in a statute.
This is general information drawn from published government documents. It is not legal advice, statutes are amended, and the date beside each finding is the date the document was read. How findings are made · What the terms mean